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Tab Manager MCP

Tab Manager MCP

by drandarov-io
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Tab Manager MCP

Tab Manager MCP lets AI agents read the titles and URLs of your browser tabs and manage tab groups in Chrome and Microsoft Edge. It has two parts:

  • The browser extension "Tab Manager MCP" in the extension folder. Its popup also copies the links of a tab group as a list of URLs or as Markdown.

  • The MCP server, the npm package chromium-tab-manager-mcp in the server folder. Your MCP client starts it.

Setup

You need Chrome or Edge 123 or later, and Node.js 22.18 or later.

  1. Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store or from Microsoft Edge Add-ons.

  2. Add the MCP server to your MCP client. The button "Copy MCP server config" in the extension popup copies this entry with the token of your browser profile:

    "tab-manager": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "chromium-tab-manager-mcp"],
  "env": {
    "TAB_MANAGER_TOKEN": "<token from the popup>"
  }
}

    In VS Code, the entry goes into servers in mcp.json. In Claude Desktop, it goes into mcpServers.

  3. Start the MCP server in your MCP client. The popup shows "Connected to 1 MCP server."

Related MCP server: Agentic Tab Organizer MCP

Connection

The MCP client starts the server. The server listens on the first free port from 17890 to 17899 on 127.0.0.1. The extension connects to each port in this range where a server runs. It looks for servers when the browser starts, when you open the popup, and every 30 seconds.

Token

The extension creates a random token when it starts for the first time, and keeps it in its storage. The token stays the same when the browser restarts or the extension updates. It changes only when you remove the extension, or when you click "New token" in the popup. Each browser profile has its own token.

The token never goes over the connection. Each side proves that it has the token with HMAC-SHA256 over two random nonces:

  1. The extension sends a nonce.

  2. The server answers with its own nonce and its proof. The extension checks the proof, and closes the connection if it does not match.

  3. The extension sends its proof. The server checks it, and closes the connection with code 4001 if it does not match.

The extension answers requests only after step 2, so a server without the token gets no data.

Case

Result

Several MCP clients run at the same time

Each server takes the next free port. The extension connects to all of them.

The server has another token, for example after "New token" or from another browser profile

The extension closes the connection. The popup shows "Found 1 MCP server with another token." Copy the MCP server config again and restart the server.

TAB_MANAGER_TOKEN is not set

The server does not listen, and each tool returns an error.

A second browser with the same token connects to the same server

The server refuses it and keeps the first browser. The popup of the second browser shows the reason.

No browser connects within 40 seconds of a tool call

The tool returns an error.

The browser does not answer within 30 seconds

The tool returns an error.

All 10 ports are in use

Each tool returns an error that names the ports.

Tools

Tool

Changes the browser

Description

list_tabs

No

Lists open tabs with ID, window, position, group, title and URL. Filters: window, group, text in title or URL.

list_tab_groups

No

Lists tab groups with ID, window, title, color, collapsed state and number of tabs.

list_group_tabs

No

Lists the tabs of one group with ID, window, position, title and URL.

create_tab_group

Yes

Makes a group from tabs in one window, with an optional title, color and collapsed state.

update_tab_group

Yes

Changes the title, color or collapsed state of a group. Fields that you do not set stay as they are.

add_tabs_to_group

Yes

Adds tabs to a group in the same window. A tab in another group moves to this group.

ungroup_tabs

Yes

Removes tabs from their groups. The tabs stay open.

Tab, group and window IDs are valid until the browser restarts. A group that loses its last tab is deleted by the browser. The tools do not close tabs, read page content, change the tab order or move tabs between windows. A call with a stale ID or a tab in another window fails with an error and changes nothing.

Privacy policy

The extension and the server send no data to the developer or to other services, and they contain no analytics.

Subject

Policy

Data that the extension reads

Of each tab: ID, window, position, group, title, URL, and the active, pinned, audible and discarded state. Of each tab group: ID, window, title, color and collapsed state. The extension does not read page content, cookies, passwords or history.

Tabs in scope

All tabs in all windows of the browser profile. Incognito tabs only if you allow the extension in incognito windows.

Where the data goes

Only to the MCP server on 127.0.0.1 on your computer. The server gives it to the MCP client that started it. Your MCP client can send it to an AI model service, and the policy of that service applies.

Data that the extension stores

The position of the switch, the token, and the connection status, in browser storage.

Switch off

The switch "Let AI agents read tabs and manage tab groups" in the popup closes all connections at once. While it is off, the extension connects to nothing.

Who can connect

The server accepts connections only from browser extensions, and only after they prove the token. Web pages cannot connect, because the browser sets the Origin header of each connection. The extension answers only servers that prove the token.

Limitation: the connection is not encrypted. A program on your computer that listens on a port from 17890 to 17899 while your MCP server runs on another port in that range can pass the handshake messages between the extension and your server, and then send its own requests to the extension. On a computer that other users use at the same time, turn the switch off when you do not use it.

Development

npm install
npx playwright-core install chromium
npm test

npm test runs the server tests with a simulated extension, and the browser tests, which load the extension into Playwright Chromium.

To use an unpacked copy, open chrome://extensions or edge://extensions, turn on developer mode, and load the extension folder. An unpacked copy has its own token. Copy the MCP server config from its popup.

Environment variable

Default

Purpose

TAB_MANAGER_TOKEN

none, required

The token of the browser profile, from the button "Copy MCP server config" in the popup.

TAB_MANAGER_PORT

17890

First port of the range of 10 ports. The extension uses 17890 unless a test changes firstPort in its storage.

TAB_MANAGER_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS

40000

Time that a tool call waits for a browser to connect.

TAB_MANAGER_CALL_TIMEOUT_MS

30000

Time that a tool call waits for the answer of the browser.

The icon source is store/icon.svg. The 128-pixel icon has 16 pixels of transparent space on each side, as the Chrome Web Store image guidelines require.

Publishing

  1. Make the extension package:

    Compress-Archive -Path extension\* -DestinationPath tab-manager-mcp-extension.zip

  2. Run npm test, then npm login and npm publish.

  3. Upload the package in the Chrome Web Store developer dashboard and in Microsoft Partner Center.

  4. Fill in the store listings with the text below, and submit the extension for review in both stores.

  5. Add the store links to the setup section of this README.

Store listing

Field

Text

Name

Tab Manager MCP

Summary

Lets AI agents read the titles and URLs of your tabs and manage tab groups through MCP. Copies the links of a tab group.

Single purpose

Give AI agents on this computer access to the open tabs and tab groups of the browser, through a local MCP server, so that they can read and organize them.

tabs permission

Reads the title and URL of open tabs for the AI agent and for the copy buttons.

tabGroups permission

Reads, creates and changes tab groups for the AI agent and lists them in the popup.

storage permission

Stores the position of the switch, the token for the local MCP server, and the connection status.

alarms permission

Looks for new local MCP servers every 30 seconds.

clipboardWrite permission

Copies the links of a tab group and the MCP server config to the clipboard when you click a button.

Remote code

No. All code is in the package.

Data use

Website titles and URLs of open tabs. The data goes only to the local MCP server. It is not sold and not used for other purposes. The store documentation does not list the data categories; "Web history" is the expected category, but this is not confirmed.

Privacy policy URL

https://github.com/drandarov-io/extension-chromium-tab-manager#privacy-policy

The Chrome Web Store also needs at least one screenshot of 1280 x 800 or 640 x 400 pixels.

This server cannot be deployed

One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

Maintenance

ActivityMaintained
ResponsivenessNo recent community issues

Resources

Related MCP Connectors

Related MCP Servers

  • Agentic Tab Organizer MCP

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    Enables MCP-compatible AI agents to inspect, read, close, deduplicate, group, and consolidate live Chromium browser tabs through a secure local bridge, with safety checks and no need for its own AI model or API key.
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  • Browser MCP

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    Enables AI agents to inspect and modify Chrome state directly through extension APIs, listing tabs and windows and moving or reordering tabs within and across windows. Operations are validated and never simulate mouse/keyboard input, steal focus, or activate tabs implicitly.
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  • tobkiri-tabs

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    Enables AI agents to create, read, and operate granted background tabs in Chrome via a local stdio MCP server, preserving the human's front tab. Supports tab groups, navigation, clicking/typing, screenshots, and human-priority permissions.
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